Defending Free Speech About Drugs

Americans may feel safe that the Food & Drug Administration approves a drug only for certain specific uses, but in December, the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York ruled drug company salespeople have a First Amendment right to claim that drugs approved for only one use can be marketed for non-approved uses, too. Doctors and bioethicists seemed outraged, according to the Los Angeles Times, mostly agreeing with a University of Minnesota professor who called the decision “a complete disgrace. What this basically does is destroy drug regulation in the United States.”